Love, War, and Fudal Japan
by DragonsDr
Summary: In Fudal Japan a war is raging between the nations, the young samurai Natsu lives for war, wielding Igneel, a naginata said to take a life every time it is swung. Meanwhile the daughter of a former war general he knew from his childhood, is sent to the samurai's household to keep her safe from the war in the south. What side of him will win, the warrior, or his heart.
1. Chapter 1: The Battle

Japan 1380

The sky was filled with black clouds, the rain dancing down, and the thunder booming, filling the field with a blinding light, overpowering the battle-cries of the fighting sides. The battle had raged for several hours now, both sides were exhausted to the point of fatigue. The two waring sides, were the Takeda* and Oda* clan, two sides that had battles for generations. The general of the Oda clan was an old man now, very short and almost bald, he was clearly deep into his later years, yet he was as fit as he had been in his earlier. He sat and looked at a large map, discussing mentally how to turn the tide.

"Sir" the voice came from messenger wearing primitave black armor, riding on a white horse, he passed the general a black scroll, marked with the crest of the Takeda clan.

He opened the scroll, it read with large pitch black kanji, "Our reinforcements have arrived. We will give you 30 minutes to surrender, or none of you will be spared". The general closed the scroll, what to be done, as a member of the Oda clan he would rather die than surrender, to him theres was only one choice. He got up and brought out his pen, and with great elegance he wrote a new message.

"Take this to our enemy" he said passing the scroll, and as quickly as he had arrived, the messenger vanished.

The General turned to a man wearing a black uniform, a large metal plate guarding his forehead, and a large Sasumata* by his side. The general ignited his pipe, and took a long swag from it.

"Shall I retrieve our reinforcements" the man said bowing.

The general took the long pipe out of his mouth, "I see no other choice, have them arrive as quick as they can, there are no options for failure here Mystogan, I hope you realize that".

He nodded, "As you wish master" Mystogan bowed, and vanished, at the speed of a blinking eye.

The general took another swag as the message arrived to the opposing side. The enemy officer picked up the scroll, it was the almost the exact same that he had written, "Our Reinforcements will arrive. We will give you 30 minutes to surrender, or your forces will be defeated" the officer crumbled the paper together, as 250 horsemen, arrived to the battlefield, joining the bloody battle.

* * *

Mystogan rode through the field, riding on a black completely white horse, with a flowing blue mane, Mystogan reached a large and black forest, the kind your mother told you to stay away from at night. But at the outskirts of the woods were a small group, about 20 men, ranging from the ages of 18 to 30. They sat around several fires, some where held up in chatter amongst one another, others waited patiently, and others polishing/cleaning their weapons. They all looked completely different, the only thing they had in common was their armor, samurai armor, and even that was different, with different markings for each of them.

"How is that little lady of yours Gajeel" a tall man with blond hair tied up in a pony tail, and that had a really thin nose asked, his armor adorned with hawks.

The man he was talking to was much larger than him, his hair was wild and messy, and he had several metal studs in his face and ears, he looked more like a bandit than a soldier. He was sitting with a large Kanabō* in his hand, his armor had several figures that looked like mountains on them. "Great" he grunted "Couldn't be better", he was obviously lying, his lover and him had some communication problems.

"Just remember to tell her that she always come to me for help" another man with a weird swirl in his hair said. Gajeel was obviously provoked by this, and ready to punch him into the ground.

"A true man does not joke around with adultery, Droy" a man with long white hair said, he was by far the biggest in the group, by his side lay an iron Chigiriki*, adorned with several spikes, each 2 inches long, his armor had several bulls on them, all of them big and brutal looking. "And a true man does no fight his allies, Gajeel".

Gajeel was ready to punch the guy, but backed off, not because they were afraid of him, at least Gajeel wasn't, but because Mystogan rode past them, stopping in front of a man with short yellow hair. The man was smoking a pipe similar to that of the general, he had a large scar running down from his eye, and two bladed tonfas* laying beside him, his armor had several carving that looked like Raiju's.

Beside him sat two others, a man with long green hair, and Bo-hiya* on his back, his armor a deep red color and with the carvings of a serpent coiling around it. The other one was almost as tall as the man with white hair, he wore a large vizor in front of his eyes, and his armor was much different from all the others, having more metal than leather, and adorned with the carvings of ghouls, by his side he had a large Ono*.

"Mystogan, what do i owe the pleasure is the battle over so soon" he smirked, pulling out his pipe.

Mystogan shook his head slowly, "You have been summoned to the field, get your men ready Laxus" he said fast but clearly, "I will inform Makarov that you are on your way" and as fast as he had arrived, he was gone.

"Looks like we have to go" a man with spiky black hair said. "It's been awhile since we've had a good battle" he had a Yumi* on his back, and a demonic Yuki-Onna on his armor. "Wouldn't you agree Loki"?

Loki shrugged, "War is good and all Gray, but the best part is after the fight, I hop to get a wound" he smirked, "Then you can tell all the women how you got it while you courageously fought for our land, but you already have a fiancé so you wouldn't know, how is she anyway". Loki had spiky orange hair, and his armor was decorated with the heads of feral cats. He had a long Bokken* in his hand.

"Fine, busy planning the wedding of course, believe me when Juvia is passionate about something she does not take it likely" Gray answered, getting his horse ready.

"You don't say" Loki answered, still wondering how Gray had NOT noticed that she had stalked him for the last 7 years. "What about you Natsu" he said turning to a samurai with spiky rose hair.

"What about me" he said, pulling himself onto his horse, his armor decorated with fierce dragons.

"Have you found anybody yet, I hear you and Lucy have been seeing each other lately" Loki, got on his horse, it was brown, with a slightly beige mane.

"Of course not don't be silly" he said, pulling his long naginata* off his back, "Lucy is our generals ward, even if she did love me there was no way we could be together" he tapped his horses side with his heels, the horse was a cinnamon color, with a mane that was deep red, the horse ran off, following Laxus and many other samurai.

"Of course" Loki snickered, riding up beside him.

* * *

At the battlefield the fight was going against the Oda, the sudden arrival of the horsemen had set them back greatly, they're army had no horsemen themselves, since most of them where taking part in another war. If the samurai did not arrive soon, they would without a doubt lose this battle, the general looked at the knife that lay beside him, no it was to early*. And luckily he had waited, mere seconds later did the samurai arrive, their horses panting as they stopped.

"Whats our status" was the first question Laxus asked, he was armed and ready for battle.

"Calm down my boy" he said, "If you do not relax, you will not think strait, have a second to let your horses catch their breath, if not they won't last long out there, and show some respect for your elders".

Laxus shrugged and jumped down, "What is our status, General Makarov" he repeated annoyed.

The general grew slightly annoyed at this mans behavior, he may be the leader of the samurai, but that excused nothing. But Makarov answered him nonetheless. "We took down two of their flanks nearly as soon as the battle had begun, however they had an advantage in ground, and we lost a large amount of soldiers, we managed to gain the upper-hand however with our archers, but they have once again gained an advantage with an arrival of horsemen, they are advancing on us quickly".

Laxus smiled, this was just the kind of battle he loved, he turned to his men, all of them were ready to fight to the death. He got back up on his horse, and they charged, all of them bringing out their weapons, ready to win the battle. Makarov viewed them from afar, "By Mavis, that kid will be the death of me someday" he shook his head, and sat back on his chair, he could relax now, the battle was more than won.

* * *

A messanger arrived to the enemy officer, he sat inside his tent, confident that he would win "Sir they have received reinforcements, it's their samurai"

"What" he yelled, this was indeed unexpected, he turned to a woman in black that stood against a pole that held the tent, only her blue eyes could be seen through her black mask.

"You told me they were fighting in the south" he yelled at her, drawing his katana*.

She smiled inderneath her mask, and in a mere second, she had drawn her own blade, and the officer lay dead, a huge gashing wound over his chest, she sent a cold look to the messenger, who then ran away. She pulled off her mask, revealing her long red hair, shortly after, Mystogan entered the tent.

"I can see you completed your mission Erza" he said pulling off his own mask, revealing his own blue hair.

"Of course, I can see you took care of the remaining officers" Erza said, looking at his Sasumata, that was red with blood.

"Shall we go" he smirked, reaching out his hand which she took, and both of them disappeared as fast as they has killed their enemies.

* * *

On the battlefield a new hope seemed to have been given to the soldiers, everybody was close to the verge of giving up, despite their honor, many where tired to the point where they could no longer stand, but as the Samurai ran in, each and every soldier felt themselves grow stronger, they gripped their weapons tightly, and the battle ensued. Laxus and his two followers, the huge man named Bixlow, and the green haired one named Freed, led the way, and eventually the samurai branched out from their formation, some going single, others into groups.

Laxus stretched out his Tonfas, "Paralyze, Skrill*" his tonfas became laced in lightning, finding a target, he used them to ram a man off his horse as he sliced it in between his armor, the man hit the ground with a nice crack, his body twitching slightly. Bixlow didn't even use his weapon, he simply punched people, knocking foot-soldiers down, or men off their horses. Freed loaded his Bo-hiya, "Pierce, Bohemia" a single shot tunneling it's way through the soldiers and drilled it's way into the ground, Freed had three shots left, he had to use them wisely.

Meanwhile Gray armed his Yumi, the huge bow was difficult to use from horseback, but he had mastered the art. "Seek, Deliora" he shot and arrow, it flew through the crowds, hitting the exact target he wanted to. He aimed once more, and fired, the arrow hitting an enemy soldier that was about to slay one of theirs, Gray had 50 arrows left, 50 lives he could take, and 50 he could save.

Elfman and Gajeel had left their horses, they fought better on foot, "Crush, Metalicanna" Gajeel swung his Kanabō into a mans jaw, he fell was as a loud cracking sound could be heard, out through the ground shot a large metal spike, piercing many other soldiers. "Smash, Taurus" Elfman roared as he swung his Chigikiri, gashing through the armors of several men, knocking some back, and ripping the weapons away from several others. They were an unstoppable team of strength.

Loki held his bokken with both hands, it was no killing weapon, however he was a master of it's use, and he made it a killing weapon. "Roar, Regulus" he swung the wooden sword to block an incoming sword, somehow the wood blocked the steel, he punched the man in the gut knocking him away. He swung the bokken the other way, hitting a mans face and knocking him out, Loke was owning this.

Natsu however had secluded him far from everybody else, he brandished his weapon, a long naginata, a dragons head where the blade erupted from. Soldiers where closing in, "Eliminate, Igneel" he said gently, and the blade glowed of the naginata glowed, Natsu swung the blade, a trail of blue flames followed, and an enemy soldier fell dead, not a single scratch on his entire body, the other soldiers halted suddenly, Natsu smiled at them "No need to be scared, let's have a good battle".

* * *

Not long after the battle had ended, Oda standing victorious, without a general to guide them, and with the might Samurai's power, the army fell apart. Despite their pride most of the other soldiers had surrendered soon after, their weapons and armor were taken, only their pride was injured. Natsu and the other samurai could rest, their horses were given water, and they were given food.

"I'm telling you I killed more than you did" Natsu roared at Grey.

"Like hell you did" the two were at each others necks, ready to fight to the death just to increase their kill count.

"Where's Erza and Mystogan" Loke asked Makarov, he hadn't seen them since they had left for the battlefield.

Makarov pointed to a tent as he drank a cup of Tea, he viewed the battlefield, foxes and wolves could be seen at the edge, scavenging the soldiers for food, crows flying high, this was no easy sight, they had lost many soldiers, but what had they gained, nothing. He shrugged, his time as a general would soon come to an end, he had to pick a new follower, that was no easy task.

* * *

Many miles away the Oda clan had their household, where the the generals, samurai, and daimyo lived. It was a huge area, almost the size of a small town, to guard it a huge forrest had been built surrounding it, and hundreds of beasts had been released, only the samurai could go through the forrest unscathed, them or a caravan. Inside of which sat two girls, both with beautiful hair, the coach driver was the samurai Alzack Connel, he had just become a father, and had been sent on this task instead of battle, something he was both grateful for, yet still slightly jealous.

"You think I'll be welcomed here, I'm not a kuniochi* like you Mira" said the younger sister, with shorter hair

"Don't worry about it Lisanna" Mira said, she was taller, had longer hair, and weird pony tail on her forehead. "You'll be welcomed with open arms".

Lisanna smiled, she had traveled all the way from their home in the southern part of the land because of the war, her father, a former war general, had stayed behind to help the soldiers, providing lodging and food. She hoped to come home soon, but she was still exited to meet him again. She held her small silver pendant and smiled, she really wanted to meet him again.

TBC

* * *

Okay that was the first chapter, and was it good, maybe, what do you think? I was kind of inspired by The Iron Knight made by Kurisu313, I kind of wanted to make the same thing, just with my favorite pairings, but I didn't wanna make a complete retread so I decided to make it in a different time, I'm really surprised that nobody's done this before, I was also thinking about doing an Ancient Egyptian one, but this was more exiting, at least in my opinion. One thing I'd like to say is that everything might not be completely time accurate but here's the thing:

DEAL WITH IT

One flaw I kind of see now is that many you probably don't know what the weapons are, oh well, here are the word meanings:

**Takeda**: Was one of the strongest clans that fought for control over japan during the edo period.

**Oda**: Again was one of the strongest clans that fought for control of japan during the edo period.

**Susuamata**: A spear like weapon that can be used both to push and stab with, still used today minus the lethal blades at the ends of it

**Kanabō**: A mace like weapon that was used to bludgeon enemies to death, it could apparently smash rocks, but where just as dangerous to the user as enemy

**Chigiriki**: A weapon that consisted of a stick, generally bamboo, with a chain attached to one end, and on the other end of the chain a large slab of metal

**Tonfas**: A stick like weapon that can be used both for attack and defense, thanks to the handle that makes one side much longer than the other

**Bo-hiya**: Basically the words first missiles (minus the explosion) it consisted of a huge arrow with a ramp and and with a fuse to ignite

**Ono**: A battle Hatchet, yeah that's basically it

**Yumi**: The worlds largest bow ever use in practice, it was sometimes taller than the man firing it

**Bokken**: Ever seen Shaman King, no, well a Bokken is a wooden sword that was used mostly for practice rather than real combat unless the intent was not to kill

**Naginata**: A long spear like weapon, with a long blade on the end, often used on horseback by the samurai**  
**

**The Knife**: Basically he was thinking of committing suicide, surrendering or being captured was seen as worse than death in Fudal Japan

**Katana**: If you don't know this, please go read a book about swords NOW

**Skrill**: Okay I could not find the name of the thunder dragon though I think they mentioned it somewhere, so now it's Skrill, the name of a dragon from HTTYD

**Kuniochi**: A female Ninja

So yeah, please review and and follow. What do you like, and what don't you like?


	2. Chapter 2: The hidden castle

The rain had stopped pouring as the samurai ventured to their homestead, the sky had cleared, and the sun was pouring warmth over the land. Natsu stretched his neck to soak up the warmth, he was far more content in the warm and damp forrest than many of the other samurai. Unlike the others, who felt like they were in an oven, Natsu felt relaxed in this heat, granted the immense dampness was annoying. Even Laxus, the allegedly "strongest" samurai, the one that had been ranked as their leader, found that he was bending over for the weather, all of the samurai but Natsu had one goal when they came home, to get out of the oven that was their battle armor. In front of the entire group rode Makarov, ironically on the largest horse, the warriors had disbanded, leaving for their own villages and homes, besides, if they knew that the home of their lord was in the forrest that no-one dared enter because of the bears*, wolves, and tigers*, chances are that word would spread and they would be attacked within days.

They reached the hidden castle* without much effort, animals had learned to keep away from them, it would be much more dangerous for them to even get near the group. The gates were opened and they rode in greeted with open arms, everybody who lived in the village was cheering for their proud warriors who jumped off their horses. Loki was, as always, soon surrounded by beautiful women, whom he flirted with eagerly. Several girls had also flocked around several other Samurai such as Grey and Freed, however those numbers had diminished, Grey because Juvia would murder any woman that touched him with a ten foot pole, and Freed for obvious reasons*. Natsu had also once been the subject of many women's affection, however unlike many other of the samurai he had never returned any flirts or affections that he had been showered in.

Other Samurai were greeted by loved ones, Gajeel with Levy, though the two still seemed to be in the middle of a very heated discussion, one that nobody wanted to get involved in, or really cared about.

The second Grey got off his horse he was knocked to the ground by Juvia who ran into him like a bull hugging him, something he had gotten very used to by this point, and something that didn't really annoy him that much any more.

Of course Erza and Mystogan had disappeared, the young couple had been married for well over a year now, and marriage sure had changed the Erza that had formerly been known as the strictest Kuniochi in history, even Mystogan had begun to open up more, to the point where he would even speak eventually, granted nobody knew how the heck they had hooked up in the first place.

* * *

Makarov entered the deepest room in the main building, he was one of the only 4 other people in the entire land that was allowed to enter. The others being the other three leading samurai generals Jura Neekis, the leader of the eastern squad Lamia Scale, Bob the leader of the southern squad Blue Pegasus, and Goldmine the leader of the northern squad Quatro Cerberus. Instead of celebrating like the others, he had job to report to. He walked past two guard into a large open room, in the room sat a large man behind a screen, one could not see any of his facial features, all you could see was how he gently drank from a cup of sake*.

"Good day Makarov" the man said gently, his voice had was kind, but still had a sense of power in it, and revealed that he was a person to show respect, and not one to disobey.

"Good day my lord" Makarov said as he bowed deeply for the man, he sat himself on a single cushion that lay in the middle of the room.

"I expect that the battle was won, if not I wouldn't expect to see you here" his voice suddenly changed from kind, to intimidating, one could clearly see why he was the lord of the entire Oda clan.

"Of course, the opponents general was dispatched by Scarlet as always, and the Samurai defeated the remaining warriors".

"Good" the lord said, gently drinking some of his sake, "Did we loose any of the samurai" he asked gently.

"No" Makarov said firmly.

"Any men".

Makarov sighed and his voice took a depressing turn "They had horsemen as reinforcements, we lost many men, so be precise, 79" he said with remorse in his voice, it was a large number of men to loose, and many families would be grieving tonight.

"That is many" the Lord said rubbing his eyes, "We must hope that their ancestors will accept them amongst their own*".

Makarov did not answer, and stayed silent for awhile, tonight he would pray for their souls by the shrine. After awhile he broke his silence "My lord, if I may ask, how is the battle in the south going".

The lord turned his head slowly, not answering for awhile, "It is not going forward so to say, the last report I received yesterday said that the battle was turning against them, and that they had lost 2 samurai already, by now it could go either way*".

Makarov was saddened, he stood up and bowed deeply, bidding his lord farewell, that night he would pray for all the souls lost by their armies, and for the war to end soon.

* * *

Natsu walked down the halls to the living quarters, he had just left the baths, and his body was still steaming with heat. The Samurai barracks were built so one could open ever room to an open garden that all the samurai shared. It was a large garden with a big tree and pond, small koi swimming around in it. He slid open the door to his room, like all the other rooms it was a simple box shape, a single futon laying in the right side of the room, and a small table on the left, in one corner of the room lay all kinds of junk he had gathered over the years. He pulled on his red Yukata*, suddenly he noticed that something was missing. He looked around, his cat Happy was nowhere to be seen. He looked under his pillows and under the boards in the floor, he even looked through his large pile of different souvenirs he had gathered throughout the years, daggers, paintings, different pieces of cloth and even some animal teeth had bought from the market. The cat was nowhere, but Natsu was not worried, the tomcat would often run off into the hallways if he had forgotten to close the door, however he was sure that he closed the door.

He slid the door to the garden open, everybody else was still either greeting their loved ones, or they were in the baths. Natsu looked instinctively at the large tree in the middle of the garden, Happy would often go up there with Gajeel's cat Pantherlily and Carla, the doctors apprentice Wendy's cat. Since he was not there he turned his head to the koi pond, however there was no trace of the cat there, at the relief of the koi. To his surprise, he heard a loud purring sound, that he instantly recognized as Happy's from the room right opposite to his. There wasn't any separate area where the female Kuniochi lived, however they're rooms where generally opposite to those of the mens, and stood side by side. He followed the noise to Mirajane's room, she was among the strongest Kuniochi in the entire clan, however she had never allowed any cat's in her domain, so this sounds came as a surprise to him.

To his even bigger surprise it was not Mirajane that had opened up to the cats, but it was a completely different girl. She had the same shade of white hair as Mira, but it was shorter. Not to mention the fact that unlike her sister ,that would generally wear her kunoichi uniform constantly, this woman was wearing a pink kimono with a floral pattern, that identified her as a person who's family that had considerable wealth. Happy lay gently and purred on her lap as she stroked him, Natsu sent her face a glance, she was quite beautiful. The girl looked up and he snapped to his senses.

"Good day" she said gently as she looked up at him with a small smile on her face.

Natsu smiled at her with his normal wide smile, "I see that you've found my cat" he said.

She smiled and nodded at him "To be more precise, I think he found me" Happy purred gently as she stroked his back, as Mirajane entered the room through her room.

"Natsu, I didn't expect to see you here" she said with he normal smile, side by side, the two girls looked almost identical in body and face, only their hair was different. She sent Happy a slight look and it ran off, remembering her strict rules about no cats in her room.

"I was just looking for Happy, and he ended up here, he seems to have taken a liking of you already" he said sending the girl a large grin. "It was nice meeting you" he said passing her a hand to shake.

She smiled at him and blushed slightly, "It was nice catching up with you Natsu" she said shaking his hand gently.

Natsu shook it, briskly and with his regular grin and walked back to his room. As he walked back her heard how the door to Mirajane's living quarter slid closed. As he walked in he saw how Happy was already curled up on a pillow in the sun. Natsu sat down, his stomach growling, he felt like he could eat a horse. As he walked to the dining halls something the girl had said came back to him, "It was nice catching up to you Natsu" she had said, had he ever met her before, he couldn't seem to remember, though he felt that her smile was familiar to him.

* * *

To his surprise, not only were most of the samurai in the dining halls, but also most of the women that resided in the castle had come to dine with them, generally they were only allowed on special occasions such as weddings New Years and other celebrations. He sat down beside Elfman and Loke, who sat beside Gajeel and Grey respectively. The meal consisted of steamed rice, a slice of pike, and a small pickled plum, the general and slightly boring meal, the only thing that really sufficed any flavor was the large amount of sake that had been laid out, which they drunk eagerly. Natsu practically swallowed his meal, his need for food only just fulfilled. Suddenly

Makarov lifted his glass and roared into the room "Today my fellow clansmen*, is a day, OF VICTORY AND CELEBRATION" the samurai cheered, "Tonight we will celebrate not only our victory as a squad, BUT OUR VICTORY FOR THE ENTIRE CLAN" the group cheered, "But tonight is also a night of mourning" silence fell over the group, "We will all pray for the men that have fallen in battle, but it is thanks to their sacrifice, THAT WE HAVE ONCE AGAIN DEFEATED OUR ENEMIES" the group cheered more than ever, "AND FOR THAT WE CHEER" the room was filled with cries of joy and applause.

Soon the sake was flying, and it didn't take long for most of the Samurai to get drunk, and an even shorter time for a large rumble to commence, only for it to be stopped seconds later by a booming voice, "HEY, YOU BETTER NOT BE FIGHTING IN THERE" the voice roared, not surprisingly, from Erza, nobody had noticed that she had entered the room, generally the kuniochi would eat in a separate room, for reasons even they did not know. Natsu watched as she entered the room with the other kuniochi, Cana, and Mirajane, if Bisca had not become a mother recently she would have joined them, and then the girl from before came in, was she a kuniochi?

Erza sat and the group sat down beside her husband, a stern look on her face, "Mirajane has an announcement to make" she said slamming her hand into the table, making the entire table shake, causing everybody to sit up straight.

Mirajane cleared her throat, "My father will be leading some of the forces together with Blue Pegasus in the south, until the war is over my younger sister Lisanna will be residing with us, unlike me she is not a Kunoichi, but I hope that you will show her just as much love".

Lisanna sent them all an innocent smile, gently bowing down, "Please take care of me*" she said with a soothing voice.

As he heard her name and her voice, a memory suddenly sparked in Natsu. When he was younger he and Lisanna as little girl, were playing in a large garden, when they heard a meow from the bushes, and they found a small kitten, he realized that this was Happy, how could he have forgotten about this, he wondered. He looked at her smiling face, it really was beautiful.

TBC

* * *

Shorter Chapter this time, and I apologize for the late update, I had a hard time because of my new job and all that. So not that much to say about this, I wanted to start their relationship up and I found that this was the best way. And 7 reviews, that is AWESOME, so I'll be replying to all of you, all reviews will be replied to, either displayed here or by PM, so let's get started:

Fire Girl 108: First of all glad to see that you've decide to read this despite not being something you ship. Thank you as you can see I already corrected the mistakes, and I will be calling him Loki. Lisanna is not, and will not be a Kuniochi, the reason for this being that Kunoichi training started when the girls were as young as 4, and she never went through that training, exactly why she didn't will be revealed later.

**Nickraptor730**: Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it

**AIIR**: Don't worry I will update, glad you like it as well I really do try my best

**XxShyxX**: I'm glad, and don't worry LaLu is on the way

**Maiden** **Warrior**: THANK YOU. The reason I chose this time period was because nobody seemed to have done it before, and because samurai are AWESOME

**Guest**: Sure of course I will, every 7 days from now on

**casey10rock**: Yay I have my first hardcore fan, I'm glad you like it, more on the way

And now onto word explanations and thoughts:

**Bears and Tigers**: Yes there was Tigers and Bears during the Edo period, and while the tigers have been extinct for a long time, there are still Asian Black Bears as well as Brown Bears in Japan today.

**Hidden Castle**: Okay two things, First. It is a castle but basically works like a large village composed of one building where the samurai and noblemen reside. Second. There are castles like this however they would not be built before Nobunaga's time, who was first born over 100 years later.

**Obvious Reason**: H to the E to the S to the G to the A to the Y, what's that say HE'S GAY

**Sake**: A very strong japanese beverage generally made from fermented rice

**Ancestors**: In edo, and modern Japan, the main religion is Shintoism, which involves many hundreds of gods each with their own shrine all over Japan. However unlike most other god there are no definitive good and evil gods, each god has good and bad parts and change depending on how you treat them. Therefor there is no conception of heaven or hell, and you are believed to join your ancestors in the spirit world to guide your descendants through their life.

**Could go either way, yet no reinforcements**: You may be wondering about this, but here's the thing a samurai lives by a code called Bushido, it's a collection of rules that samurai's must follow throughout their entire service, and it put's heavy weight on their honor, something that the japanese during Edo japan held above all else, sending reinforcements to a battle where another group of samurai were fighting would only dishonor them.

**Yukata**: A summer garb worn both by men and woman

**Clansmen**: NOT THE KKK KIND, that kind of goes without saying but whatever.

Okay so that's it see ya, remember to follow and review my friends, and I'm open for suggestions, if you really want to see something I might include it =D


	3. Chapter 3: Gruvia Wedding part 1

Since her introduction at the meal, memories of Lisanna had begun to spark one after another in Natsu's mind, he remembered how they'd played together as children, and how she'd pretended that Happy was their kid. Alongside that, he also remembered how brutal Mirajane had been in the past, nothing like she was today. He was lying on his futon in the deep of the night, fireflies had made it into his room and served as the only light-source. Outside he could hear the sounds of crickets chirping, and the shrieks of small bats that flew aimlessly around, snatching up whatever insect they could find. Happy lay in the corner, following the small glowing insects like only a cat can, hypnotized by their glow.

Natsu himself was in the state of "Not completely sober, but not really drunk", the stage where the headaches began, he stretched his back and stood up, he would go ask Porlyusica for some medicine. In the night-time the hallways were completely empty, almost to a frightening degree, almost no sounds could be heard anywhere, only the echoes of his own footsteps. Porlyusica was the court physician, and had been that for who knows how long, at least since Makarov had become general, which was at least 150 years ago, according to Natsu anyway. A couple of years ago she had taken in an apprenticed called Wendy, apparently Jellal had found her as a baby during one of his missions, since then she had worked none stop under Porlyusica, who happened to hate people. The only reason why the lord kept her was because there was nobody like her, one time she healed a generals leg that had been broken 30 different places by a raging horse.

He knocked the door with immense force, his mind clouded by the alcohol. The door was swung open a couple of minutes later, with a furious Porlyusica standing and fuming in the doorway.

"Go back to bed Natsu" she yelled at him, and miraculously not waking anybody else in the household up. Wendy stood behind her, she was now 14 years old*, short for her age, had long blue hair that was tied into two braids, and ironically her body was still more mature than Gajeel's lover Levy. who was several years older than her.

"What brings you here so late" the little girl asked, Natsu gently clutched his head in pain at Porlyusica's sudden yell. Wendy sighed, "I wish you guys wouldn't drink so much".

Porlyusica sent her a look that said, "Just go get him something so we can get back to sleep" which she did, passing him a small bag of herbs that would dull the pain. Natsu swallowed them instantly and turned to walk back awkwardly, not able to walk in a straight line but with a huge grin on his face.

"By the way" he asked suddenly, suddenly remembering something he had wanted to ask her for quite some time, "How are you and Romeo doing" he asked, referencing to the fact that Macao Conbolt, a senior samurai, had recently offered that his son Romeo be engaged to Wendy, to which Porlyusica had hit him with a broom, and Romeo and Wendy had both blushed, like she was doing now, casuing Natsu to snicker, and get the for mentioned broom in his back, and a door smacked behind him. He slowly walked down into his room, and chuckled as he flopped down on his bed, his sight growing clouded before his eyes because of the herbs, and within minutes he was basically knocked out.

* * *

He awoke early the next morning, his head still hurt a-bit, but it was certainly an improvement from the former night. He looked around the room groggily, the effects of the sleeping herbs still hadn't worn off completely. Happy would always wake him by either jumping on his chest, scratching his arms, or lying down on his face, he had eventually grown so accustomed to it that he could sleep for hours without noticing it. However the thing that woke him up was not his blue cat, in fact he was nowhere to be seen. The thing that woke him up was but the sound of people dragging things around, and yelling loudly. Suddenly his door was swung open so hard it was practically flung off the doorway.

"Good-morning Natsu" a voice said from the doorway, he turned and saw Erza standing in a white and gold kimono, to which he immediately stood up and straightened his back, he had learned to always stand straight up or Erza would make him.

"G-good-morning Erza" he stammered, "What's the occasion" he asked, fearing for his life.

She sighed, "I can't believe you forgot the date of your best friends wedding" he body surrounded by a burning red aura of anger.

"O-of course I didn't forget, I was just making sure that you had remembered" he said his knees wobbling and his mind begging for it to work.

"Are you saying that I have bad memory" her hair standing on end in anger.

Natsu was looking for a way out of this, anything could work, suddenly getting an idea just as she lifted her fist, "H-hey Erza, they're busy making the cake, why don't you help them taste it" he knew how horrible the excuse was, but luckily Erza was just as gullible as he was a horrible lier. For as soon as the word "cake" was mentioned, she was out of the door and in the kitchen, ordering them to let her taste, to which they did not dare say that they had not even begun.

Natsu himself was surprised that he had forgotten about the date, but then he began to remember how Gray had drunken significantly less than any of the other Samurai, and had kept his face out of reach as to not get a black eye, which Natsu had been more than happy to deliver to him. He went back in and pulled off his sleeping clothes, pulling on his Yukata, he presumed that the first thing he would do was find Happy, if he had to sit through another wedding he would take him down with him, the only good thing was that this was the only time that they were served actual food with actual flavor.

He started looking the general places, just to be sure, though he was critized by many, including Elfman and Gajeel, that he wasn't helping setting everything up, to which he ignored them, resisting the urge to punch them for no apparent reason. Eventually he reached the place he presumed that Happy would be, he knocked gently and Lisanna opened, sure enough, Happy was lying in the opposite end of the room, basking in the sun.

"Good morning Natsu" she said eagerly, her normal smile on her face, wearing a pink and gold kimono with a floral pattern, "Excited for the wedding".

"Yeah, sure" he said as he sat down on the doorway, not really caring about the wedding to be honest, he didn't see the point in marriage, well except for the food.

"I never thought that Gray would end up finding a girl especially with his, habit" she said tear-dropping and sitting down beside him.

"Well Juvia is a special case, he didn't really have a choice" he said snickering and thinking about how they had originally met her.

"Oh how so" she asked curiously.

"Well she was originally a Kuniochi of Phantom Lord. You know, the former northern squad alongside Quatro Cerberus, they kept loosing members members in battle and had this idiot of a leader named Hose".

"Yeah" she said though she was slightly confused, she had always thought that Quatro Cerberus was the only northern squad, but then again, she had never bothered to study warfare, and they didn't sound like very nice people anyway.

"Well for a long time they wanted to take us down, you know since we're the strongest" he said strutting his chest causing Lisanna to laugh at him. "They would often challenge us to competitions that we would win more than we would lose. But then they had their strongest member, Gajeel" he said nodding at the iron slayer, "Attack Levy our bookkeeper, Jet and Droy, and kidnap Lucy, what's worse is that they threatened to eliminate us if we didn't admit defeat".

"But wait, aren't Gajeel and Levy lovers" she said, turning her head towards Gajeel who was busy setting up the altar together with Elfman and Loki, and Levy who was busy talking wit Bisca, who was lulling her baby to sleep.

"Yeah I'm getting to that" he said with a smile on his face, "Anyway we took them out, pretty easy, they only had 6 strong members*, and one of them was Juvia, turns out she became a huge fan of Gray after he let her go. And began to stalk him like mad" he said laughing out loud "But I guess he eventually fell in love with her".

Lisanna was confused, "But what about Gajeel" she asked again, eager to know the story, she did find it quite strange that the big brute called Gajeel over there was the lover of a small woman like Levy who looked no older than 14.

"Oh that, well you see, I have no idea" he said proudly as Lisanna tear-dropped.

"Come on you must know something" she said with curious intent

"Nope" he said as Happy jumped on his face as he always did when he was hungry.

Lisanna was about to take him off, if she could stop laughing, when a voice interupted her, "Hey Fire-Face I need your help with something" Gray shouted across the garden, with his normal angry voice.

"Get Metal-Head" to do it Natsu shouted back at him pulling Happy off, to which Gajeel grunted annoyed, ready to pound the crap out of him if Levy hadn't sent him her, "Do this and no sex for a month" look.

"Just get over here" he yelled back annoyed walking into his room.

Natsu followed annoyed, if it was wasting his time he could always beat the crap out of him, that would be fun. Lisanna was left to stroke Happy, she smiled as she remembered when they had been younger, and Natsu would always fight with Gray, until Mira or Erza showed up and they would cower in fear. She looked at her pendant, it was simple, silver, in the shape of a drop, but it meant a-lot to her, she remembered that Natsu had remarked about it being pretty as well, if only she could remember where she had gotten it from.

* * *

Natsu slammed to door open to find Gray in his wedding uniform, a dark-blue/grayish kimono with a back jacket over it, with the Oda clan symbol on the side. He was sitting on a small cushion, and on the table were two small cups of sake, and a couple of onigiri.

"What do you want" Natsu said tapping his foot.

Gray was obviously restraining a-lot of anger, "Please sit Natsu" he asked, his voice shivering in anger.

Natsu sat, instantly begging to eat the and drinking from the food and sake on the table. "So" he said before he emptied his cup, "What do you want", he finished once the food had been eaten.

Gray sighed, "I need your h-he-help with the wedding" he stammered, his fists clenching in anger.

Natus chuckled, "Come again" he said to tease, which made Gray's teeth grind in anger.

"I need your help with the wedding" he eventually said.

Natsu was truly enjoying himself, "What do you need me to do, and what will I get out of it".

Gray was ready to punch the bastard out of his room, but then again, he really did need his help, "We need someone to drum the taiko*" even asking it was embarrassing, "The group we had asked to do it awhile back were stopped due to the war in the south".

"What's in it for me" Natsu said with a large grin on his face, thought to be fair the satisfaction of Gray having to beg him to do something was enough.

Gray sighed, and pulled out a large string of coins from his pocket*, there was enough for at least 3 bottles of sake at any reasonable inn.

Natsu pretended to consider it, knowing it would piss Gray off, which it did. Eventually he snatched the coins out of his hands, "I guess it'll due, for now" he said and walked out, leaving Gray to fume in anger over his loss, and increase his hate for the rose headed samurai.

* * *

However in the south there was no time for relaxation, no time to prepare for any festival, in the south the battle was raging like mad, the armies were ten times the size that they had been in the east, and samurai from both sides were waging war on one another. The head general of the south was Bob, he knew that it was an odd name for a japanese man, however his ancestors had come from the west. He was in his early 50's, bald, odd, though intelligent when he had to*. The sky was pumping warm sunlight down on them, and the battlefield was completely visible, not one detail was hidden, everything could be seen from where he stood. By his side stood the trimens, a smaller group inside the squad that were probably amongst the strongest samurai in the entire clan.

"What are your orders master" the largest of the Trimens, Ren, said. Unlike most other samurai, the Trimens all specialized in using katana's, and could use them both beautifully, and deadly.

Bob sighed, the battle would not last much longer, "Get me a pen and brush, I have a note to send".

TBC

* * *

GOMENOSAI FOR THE LATE RELEASE. I was sick, very, very sick. But hopefully I can start with the weekly releases properly, from now on. First things first 13 reviews on chapter 2 and 9 followers already, AWESOME, thank you guys, it really inspires me. There isn't much to say to this chapter, you may find it odd that I'm having a marriage this early on, but I have a plan for it to tie in, there are some definitions and some thought, so let's get to them:

**Wendy's age**: Yeah I know she's supposed to be 12 in the manga and anime, but again, this will tie in later why she has that age, also I laughed my ass off when I saw her reaction to Reedus's drawing of 19 year old Wendy, I can't help it.

**Only 6 strong members**: Yeah seriously the only ones that stood a chance against anybody was the Element 4, Gajeel, and José, granted there are a-lot of weaker members in Fairy Tail as well, this just struck me as odd. They clearly showed that the guild was led with a "The Strong Survive" concept, so what's with all the weaklings, I mean it took almost nothing for Fairy Tail to beat them, am I just reading to much into this, what do you guys think?

**Taiko****: **Are drums used for festivals and other events, like weddings. During a traditional japanese wedding 4 or more drummers, often family and/or friends, would perform for the couple, wishing for luck and prosperity.

**String Coins:** From the 12-17th century there the currency in Japan was the same as China, and designed with a square hole in the middle so you could tie them together and store them. If I was to be completely accurate the Royal Samurai would not get paid for their work for their lord, however they could make money helping villagers or, I don't know selling pies.

And time for review replies, you guys are awesome:

**Fire girl 108:** Thank you, and yes, once this arc is over I'll be switching every week, I know I already replied with PM, but others were probably wondering about this, so yeah.

**XxShyxX:** I think you mean KAWAI.

**Maiden Warrior: **Thank you for the advice, and yes Lisanna isn't just some prissy little weakling, she will have a badass moment, when and where, wait and see.

**jc20: **Glad you like it =D

**NaTsu Lisanna**: I'm glad that you like it, and thank's a-lot, it's comments like yours that motivate me to keep writing. And don't worry, they will take it slow, and secure.

**Cantthinkofaname: **RoWen, yep, if you wonder about what pairings you might see in my fic your can see what I ship on my profile. And yes I will update soon, don't worry.

So yeah, please review and follow, and expect a chapter in 7 days exact.


	4. Chapter 4 Gruvia Wedding part 2

As the day gently drew to an end, the wedding in the samurai garden began. As tradition said, the wedding would start with the couple receiving greetings and wishes for their new life, from their friends/and or family, or in this case, their fellow samurai and Kuniochi. Juvia was wearing a pure white traditional wedding kimono, a a wedding hood, one that only exposed her face and completely hid her beautiful blue hair, her face had been brushed with white powder, and her lips had been painted redder than Erza's hair, this was also one of the only times that one would ever see Juvia smiling, much more than when she was fawning over Gray, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. As they walked from room to room, the reactions they received ranged from a simply:

"Have a good life together" from Natsu, to which Gray was tempted to punch him, just beacause he wanted. To a deep speech from Elfman about how Gray would now finally become a man, and Mira eventually had to pull him away since he ended up just rambling about being a man and how manly he was. Soon they had been around to everyone but Makarov, and for the most part the greetings they had received had been very nice, and helped raise the mood for both of them. The old man sent them a warm smile and bowed for them.

"So the time came for you to marry" he said smiling at Gray warmly. Gray nodded, sending him his own smile. "And I can see that you caught yourself quite a catch" he said smirking pervertedly at Juvia, to which Gray sent him an annoyed look, and Makarov burst into laughter. "Oh don't be so sensitive Gray, even if I was your age I wouldn't have a chance with this one, seeing as she is completely addicted to you", he said with a large grin on his face. He placed his hand on the young mans shoulder, "I wish both of you a good life, now and forever".

Gray sent him a large and warm smile, and bowed to him, "Thank you master" he said, his voice filled with respect and happiness.

"Oh and be gentle with her" he whispered to him grinning, to which Gray grinned with him, and Juvia blushed.

* * *

After the incident with the pervy general, they returned to the main hall, the hall where all the samurai and had their official meetings, the other samurai and kuniochi were already waiting, sitting gracefully on each their pillow, their katana's resting on their laps, all wearing their finest clothing, all the women on the right side and the men on the left. As Juvia's father was , no available at the moment, it was Makarov's job to walk her to the shrine, the couple took their seat in front of the priest. A shrine maiden* stepped up and swung the ceremonial cleanser, a large club with paper squares woven into it. The cleanser was done in order to wish for a great future for the couple, as well as keeping dark spirits out of their lives.

Next came the sake drinking, as of tradition they would share three cups of sake. The three cups were stacked gracefully atop one another, as Gray took the topmost one, the shrine maiden filled it gently, and Gray drank the sake in three sips, he then gave the cup to Juvia and she drank the remaining sake. The second cup was done in reverse, with Juvia starting and Gray finishing. With the last one they both drank from it in the reverse orders. Another cup had been given to each of the guests, they were filled with sake, and they emptied them in one swag.

The ceremony continued, and the rings were brought forth by the priest, the rings were made of silver, with a blue and red band embedded into the ring, and the mark of Fairy Tail stamped on them. The priest stood up. "Today we have come to unite the fates of these two young members of this noble clan, we wish that out ancestors may accept their engagement in marriage" he passed them the rings, "Will you Gray Fullbuster, Samurai of the Oda clan, representative of the Fullbuster Family, take Juvia, Kuniochi of the Oda clan, representative from the eleminated Loxar Family, as your lawfully wedded wife to be"?

"Yes" Gray said placing the ring on Juvia's finger, his face grounded in a glad and warm smile, his hands gently trembling of nervousness.

The priest turned to Juvia, he face was stiff, trying to control her excitements, but she could not keep herself from letting out a tiny little smile. "Will you Juvia, Kuniochi of the Oda clan, representative from the eleminated Loxar FamilyGray Fullbuster, Samurai of the Oda clan, representative of the Fullbuster Family, take Gray Fullbuster, Samurai of the Oda clan, representative of the Fullbuster Family, as your lawfully wedded husband to be".

"Yes" she said, now unable to keep herself from letting out a very wide and happy smile.

"By the power I have been granted by the gods of our world, I hereby pronounce you to be man and wife, you may now kiss you wife" he said, nodding as Gray gave Juvia a long and passionate kiss. Juvia had finally gotten what she had craved for so many years, she was basically fainting of happiness from the event. The couple stood up and turned, the samurai and kuniochi raised their katana, forming a tunnel of blades for them to walk under, lowering it with stale faces once they passed by.

The fest continued outside, smiles and gifts were exchanged, Natsu was even forced to give back the money Gray had given him, plus a little more. Besides that they were given enough to buy plenty of things for their new home, they had removed the walls between their two rooms, which were located beside each-other since she had threatened Loki with intense pain if they didn't change. The sake flowed freely, and like the night before, many people would wake with hangovers the following morning. Of course the cake was eaten happily, especially Erza that managed to eat no less than 7 pieces. The food consisted of lot's of fish: pike, trout, even some fugu*, several different kinds of served rice, and slices of oxen bigger than Makarov. Needless to say, nobody held back from this wonderful meal. And first when the clock struck 3:00 AM did Gray and Juvia retire for the night.

"So I guess were married now" Gray said, smiling at his wife.

"Yes" Juvia said smiling, "Juvia feels like this is just a dream, Juvia loved you for so long, yet you never showed any sign of returning my feelings, Juvia was beginning to lose hope".

"I'm sorry" he said, rubbing the back of his head, "I just thought of you as a friend for a long time, I thought you were in love with Leon".

She shook her head, "No, Juvia only one person could be for me for, and that is you Gray-sama" she said hugging him.

"I feel the same way" he said and kissed her head, and closed the door behind him, locking it with a nice click.

* * *

The next morning Gray awoke beside his new beautiful wife, she was holding onto him so hard it was hard for him to breathe, with a happy and innocent smile plastered on her face. He only remembered the former night vaguely, he remembered having drunken a ton of sake, and even some of the expensive wine they had saved for the occasion. His room looked normal, albeit very large now that it had been combined with the room next door. Suddenly he heard footsteps outside of the door, a ton of footsteps, he wiggled out of his wives arms, and opened, all in the household were walking towards the main hall, and in a castle that held 40 Samurai and Kuniochi, 30 noblemen including the leader of the clan, 3 generals, and nearly 100 servants of all kinds, it surprised Gray greatly that they were all heading in the same direction.

"Hey Flame-Head" he yelled when he saw Natsu on the other side of the hall.

Natsu sent him an annoyed glare, "What is it Ice-Brains"

"Where's everybody going" he asked

Natsu sighed with annoyance, this was wasting his time, "Our lord called everyone in the household to the main hall, though I don't know why"

* * *

In the main hall sat the lord, behind his ordinary screen, beside him sat Makarov to his right side, and a young blonde girl, wearing a white and gold kimono sat to his left, alongside them sat many other nobles. Though it was still impossible to make out any facial features, one could clearly see that he was a very small and heavy man, in one hand he had a very large fan, and on his head sat his a traditional hat. In front of the lord sat a line of 4 samurai, Erza, Jellal, Laxus, and Mirajane, they were the top tier, the strongest samurai in the entire clan. In the next couple of rows sat the remaining Samurai, including Loki, Elfman, and Natsu. In the back sat all the servants, chef's, guards, and other members of the household.

The lord cleared his voice, and began his speech. "I great you my people, it has been a long time since I last had a message to convey, however this is of the utmost emergency" his voice had a hint of sadness in it. "The war in the south has worsened, and we have sent reinforcements, however they will first arrive in a couple of days, and we fear that the southern base may be at risk"

While not emoting it, everyone in the whole room feared the same thing.

"Our enemies have grown stronger, and some of the samurai have fallen, however they will know that we will pray for them tonight. However in order to protect the nobleman and noblewoman that reside at the base, we have chosen to transport them to this base, I ask that the following Samurai step forward and help guide them" he cleared his voice once more. "Natsu Dragneel, Loki, Elfman Strauss, and Mystogan, you are to leave in exactly two hours, you are to arrive at the southern castle before tonight" he cleared his voice again, it was clear that his health had been deteriorating, "I would also like to have the Strauss family to remain seated, that is all, and you may be dismissed".

* * *

And with that everybody left, but for the Strauss siblings, the lord, and Makarov. The siblings sat down in front of their masters, bowing deeply.

"Who might you be" the lord said with a stern voice as he pointing his fan at Lisanna.

Lisanna bowed gently, "Good day my lord, I am Lisanna Strauss 3rd child of the Strauss family, I have been sent here by my father to get away from the war" she said with her normal smile plastered on her face.

The Lord ignored her reaction, partially because he could not see her face, "You three may already know why I have asked you, and only you three to stay here" he said, he knew that it was obvious.

"It's our father, isn't it" Mira answered, her voice was stern and emotionless, though she was clearly worried for him.

The lord nodded gently, and the Strauss siblings felt a wave of fear gush over them.

"Is father alright" Lisanna asked, unlike her sister she made no effort to hide her concern.

The lord shook his head gently.

"I-Is father" Elfman asked, knowing he didn't need to complete the sentence.

"He's not dead, if that's what your implying" The Lord said, gently placing his fan on his chin, "He was struck down by an enemy samurai, however he survived long enough for The Trimens to rescue him, however" he said pausing to breathe, "He has lost his arm in the fight, he will not be participating in this war any longer.

"But My Lord" Elfman said suddenly, "With all due respect My Lord, our father is one of our best generals, you would not shame him by".

"Ny decision is final Elfman" The Lord said, his voice filled with anger and determination, "We have already lost 4 samurai, I will not lose one of our best generals, you are to obey my decision, you are to guide him and the rest of the nobles from the southern base, to her, is that clear".

Elfman gritted his teeth, "Yes My Lord" he said bowing, hiding his anger ridden face.

"Good" he said, calming down significantly, "You are now dismissed, Elfman you leave in 2 hours".

"My Lord" Lisanna said abruptly.

"Yes" he said, confused but decided to listen.

"May I please accompany them, I wish to see my father".

"Lisanna you cannot be seri-" Elfman began

"Stop" The Lord said, interrupting Elfman, "Young woman, what makes you think that you will be capable of joining the samurai" he asked, curios of her abilities.

"Well" she said gently, "I can do one thing" she said, clenching her pendant.

"Show me" he said curiously.

* * *

Two hours later

"Is everyone ready" Mystogan saidm his mask covering his eyes, his spear on his back, and mounted on a beautiful brown steed.

"Aye" Natsu said, mounting his cinnamon colored steed with it's long flowing red man, and his naginata on his back.

"Yes" Loki said, alongside his Bokken was a long katana, his mount was a beige horse with a huge flowing brown mane.

"Wait just a minute" Elfman said, riding a very large white horse, with a flowing black mane his Chigiriki by his side. Soon after him came Lisanna, wearing padded leather armor, on her side a small dagger.

"Hello there" she said bowing gently, "I hope that you will take care of me on our journey".

TBC

* * *

Okay sorry again, but let me tell you, this was just f**king annoying, I was finishing the chapter, when my internet jumped, and I lost half the chapter that I had to rewrite, and at 1 AM in the morning, you want to sleep, anyway what is Lisanna's skill, well I have several ideas, however I want to see what you would like to see, so if you have an idea, post it as a review. With that said, 20 reviews on the 3rd Chapter, let me say this, I have a dream, a dream that states that I may have 100 reviews by the 20th chapter, will you help me, please. And here are the replies to reviews:

**AIIR**: Your completely right, did I do better here?

**casey10rok**: YESSS YESSS YEEEEEESSSSSS glad you like it =D?

**Maiden Warrior**: Yes it does take balls to do something like that, where does she get that pendant WAIT AND SEE!

**NaTsu Lisanna**: Longer chapters sorry no 2600-3000 words is hard enough. More NaLi, yes expect more soon.

**Cantthinkofaname**: I'm goanna call you Nathan from now on.

**XxShyxX:** Glad you do, expect more

**Fire Girl 108**: No you don't, nobody does, not even me

So I only really have one explanation, though it deserves to be explained:

**A Shrine Maiden**: A shrine maiden was/is much like a nun. However there are many differences, one of them is that a shrine maiden was not forced to have chastity for life, if she was to find a husband she could really so anything sexual, so the maiden part is kind of misleading. Another difference is that a Shrine Maiden was not forced to serve the church for life, and if she could find a replacement she was allowed to leave, the last main difference is probably that the Shrine Maiden is still as common today, not to say nuns aren't in the world still, there are just not as many as there used to be.

See ya soon =D


	5. Chapter 5: Hunting and the south

"You will be joining us" Mystogan said, raising an unseen eyebrow, he was skeptic as he had first seen this girl yesterday, and he had never even heard her utter a single word before just now.

"Yes, I hope that you will accept me" she said smiling, bowing gently.

"How do we make sure she doesn't slow us down" the masked ninja asked Elfman.

"Oh come on Mysto" Loki said grinning, "Has having a pretty lady with us on the way ever been a bad thing".

Elfman sent him a serious and annoyed look, and Loki immediately cleared his throat and began to whistle.

"Whatever the case" Elfman said drawing the attention to him, "Our Lord has ordered us to take her with us, she is however not to slow us down, or make any unnecessary stops, as long as she follows that we are not to complain" no more questions were asked, as they waited for her to mount her horse, a white steed with an equally white mane, the horse stood right next to Natsu's.

"I'm glad you could join us" the rose headed samurai said smiling at her with his usual grin, "I take it you can hold your own in battle then".

She smiled at him rather than answer, and first now did Natsu notice that she had no weapon on her, not even a small dagger.

"Alright" Mystogan yelled, "The more distractions we have the longer it will take us to reach the southern castle, we ride now, is that clear", his eyes were determined and serious, he was in the zone for battle.

"YES" answered the other riders, as their horses went into full run, and within minutes they were out of the woods.

* * *

The sun had yet to completely rise, despite this the whole area was baking and damp, a very unholy combo. And after only two hours of riding their horses were in dire need of a rest, they found a small forrest and stopped by the outskirts, if only for a couple of minutes.

Natsu sat down beside Lisanna in the shade "Want some water" he asked her, passing her a water gourd. It was tanned and hard as a rock.

"No thank you" she said smiling, "I have my own" she said and took a large swag of water from her own bottle.

"I was quite surprised that you chose to join us, and you must be either pretty brave or pretty strong to go without a weapon" he said smiling at her and pointing to her side where there would normally be some kind of weapon.

"Oh yes" she said awkwardly, "My father is hurt, and I was worried for him, so I asked Our Lord if I could join you" he said smiling at him.

"Is your father alright" he asked, having forgotten everything about the no weapon situation.

"No not really" she said, explaining the situation of what had happened to him.

Natsu sighed, and leaned back on the soft grass, "Well that's the risk of going to war".

Lisanna tucked her knees under her head, "Have you ever had an injury like that" she asked gently, first realizing that it was a kind of stupid question after she had said it.

"Well obviously not like that" he joked, trying to cheer her up, "But I did once suffer from a wound that should have killed me"

She opened her eyes curiously, "Do tell" she was suddenly intrigued by the story, however just when they had said this Elfman called for them, telling them that it was time to continue their journey.

"Another day" he said with a wide smile, mounting his horse once again and riding to the distance. Lisanna and the rest soon followed, with Mystogan leading the way, the sun had been covered, however the large plains still felt like an oven, and their heavy armor did not help. And therefor it was only after 2 more hours of riding before they had to take another break, this time they rested in a forest clearing, by a large pond where the horses could drink their fill. It was the middle of the day, and the samurai had not expected the heat, and the need for the constant stops, so as luck would have it, they had not brought any food.

"Lisanna" Mystogan said suddenly with an emotionless tone.

"Y-yes" she said, surprised by his sudden burst of sound.

"In our clan you need to prove yourself if you want to stay" he threw a small crossbow at her, one that all the samurai had "Go with Natsu and get us some food, and be quick about it" he turned and headed back to the others, who were busy cooling off their steeds.

"Areyou ready" Natsu asked surprising the girl, he had stood behind her without her even noticing it.

"Y-yes" she said smiling.

* * *

They began to walk through the dense wood, the tall and huge trees darkened the area, however small patches of sun lightened the forest up like small candles.

"So what are we looking for" she asked interested, she had after all been given a crossbow.

"Well really any kind of animal that you can eat and that can feed us" he said, his face plastered with his normal smile, on his back was Igneel, and in his hand his own crossbow.

"Like a deer or a..." she was immediately interupted as Natsu pulled his hand in front of her and went down on hook, he pointed to a clearing, where a large Suidae* was grazing. He loaded his crossbow and slowly crept closer, Lisanna followed, "What do you in..."

"Quite" he said shushing on her, he crept closer, and the game suddenly looked up in his direction, he held still, not moving a single muscle. The large hog stepped a little back, and Natsu redied the trigger, Lisanna was biting her lip, she had never seen an animal get killed. Suddenly the pig turned and ran, and Natsu pulled the trigger. The arrow flew and struck the poor animal in the shin, and it began to squeel in pain, something that cased Lisanna to hold her ears to keep the noise away. Natsu ran towards it, drawing his blade, ready to end it's misery. Lisanna gently looked, and suddenly her face was struck with horror.

"NATSU WATCH OUT" she cried, fumbling with the loaded crossbow in her hands. The samurai just managed to turn before a massive stag ran directly into him, the antlers pinning him to the tree, his armor protected him, however the massive size of the deer would soon become a legitimate danger. She fumbled with the crossbow, and attempted to fire, however the arrow went far to the right. The stag turned, spotting the white hair that stuck out of the dark forest, it turned and ran towards her, she was paralyzed in fear, she attempted to run but fell, the stag came closer, lowering it's huge antlers in order to impale her, she had no choice, she had to use it.

"Hide, Sutorausu*" she whispered into her amulet

* * *

Natsu came to his senses moments later, and saw the stag running at her, he drew Igneel.

"Burn Igneel" he said and the blade became coated in fire, he swung the blade down, and a blade of fire shot at the stag. The stag bolted to the right and the blade missed, fading into nothing. Suddenly there was a glow from where Lisanna stood, a loud scratching sound could be heard, and suddenly she was gone, there was no trace of her anywhere. Both the stag and Natsu looked around confused. Natsu however too the opportunity and rushed forward at the stag striking it in the stomach and tore it clean in half.

The stag died, however the corpse continued to twitch gently, he leaned down and close it's eyes, then he looked around, Lisanna was nowhere to be seen. He turned and looked at the trees, there sat a small feline being, it's eyes shone in the darkness, and it's white and pink fur stuck out like a sore thumb. It jumped down gracefully and shook it's head, suddenly another light appeared, but now Lissana stood in it's place, except with scraggy hair and a slightly torn outfit.

"Sorry you had to see that" she said smiling awkwardly and looked at the deer, "Poor thing" she said depressed, "Well now we have food".

"What was that" Natsu asked her with an annoyed tone.

"Uhh" she said and began to grow nervous, "I can't really tell you".

"So it's a secret" he asked interested and with wide eyes.

"Well yes" she said, growing even more nervous.

"Cool tell me" he said with his usual smile.

She sweat-dropped as she said the next line, "But I just told you that I couldn't tell you, so why do you think I would tell you now".

"I dunno" he said shrugging, "But if you tell me I promise I won't tell anybody" he said as he lifted the legs of the deer.

She sighed, "Natsu I'm sorry but I can't tell you, not yet at least".

"Oh, okay, just tell me when your ready" he said with his smile returning, "Then I'll tell you my secret".

She smiled at him warmly as a replu, and helped carry the remaining part of the deer, and soon they returned with the food, with scraggily hair and torn clothes, needless to say Elfman sent Natsu an evil look and Loki made some pervy jokes, to which they explained that they had been attacked, to which he just made more jokes. They ate quickly and rode off, there were no more stops until they reached the castle this time, and despite the heat and dampness they rode for 10 straight hours. In the time dark clouds had formed, and in the distance one could here a very faint sound of guns being fired.

* * *

The group entered the castle walls, this castle was much more like a large village than the one to the east. The houses were much larger and made of stone, and there were many more servants, there was even a shopping district and a red lights district. Waiting for them inside the gates were The Trimens, the 4 most powerful and 3 of the most handsome members of Blue Pegasus, and their leader also happened to be the ugliest member.

"GOOD DAY MY FELLOW SAMURAI" roared their leader Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki with an odd smile on his face "WE ARE GLAD THAT YOU HAVE COME TO AI..."

"Cut the crap" Loki said interupting him with a strike in his head, "We've just come to get the nobles, we sleep until tomorrow and then we leave".

The short man cleared his throat, "Well of course I will have Eve, Hibiki, and Ren guide you too" he turned and found that they had disappeared, and had gone to help Lisanna off her horse.

"Hello there madam, may I help you with this" Eve said with a wide smile, grabbing the rails of her horse.

"No let me help you" Hibiki said smiling at her.

"Oh don't worry about them I'll show you the perfect place to stay" Ren said wrapping his arm around her shoulder. All the while she was blushing from embarrassment, not used to being showered in so much affection.

Ichiya cleared his throat once more, and as if on command the three more handsome members of the Trimens assembled behind him. "I apologize my lady, my friends are quite flirtatious, by the way, my lovely Erza is not with you is she" he said as his face became entranced in happiness.

"I thought that Erza was married" Lisanna whispered to Elfman.

"She is, Ichiya there is just very slow to learn of things" he said as the short man was fawning of their love.

"I'm sorry to interrupt" Mystogan said, "However we wish to meet the Nobles so we can introduce ourselves and explain the plan".

"Yes of course" the short man said smiling, and had their horses lead to the nearby stables, and led them to the main residential area, the buildings there were much larger, and they all seemed to have been built recently, in the streets there were stalls selling the finest of wares, and longer down the street the buildings began to grow more and more red.

* * *

After 30 minutes or so the main part of the nobles that resided in the city had gathered in the main hall, they were all clad in clothes of fine silk or cloth, and they all had an aura of wealth and nobility, of which they had both.

"So what is this about" asked a woman in the front, she was a black hair and a straight back, beside her sat a very tall man, he was quite and didn't flinch, he was probably her husband. "Why did you gather all of us here" she said with resentment in her voice, obviously she didn't enjoy this.

Mystogan sat in front with Natsu and Loki sitting beside him. Lisanna and Elfman had left them in order to see their father, who despite also being a noble, was still in the infirmary. Mystogan cleared his throat, "As you know the battle to the south of this castle has intensified, soon the battle will end for the day, and tomorrow we will take you to the north for protection, any other questions"

A man stood up, "Why are you taking us and not one of our own samurai or warriors" he said angrily.

"The local samurai are staying to aid the soldiers in battle, but we are more than qualified to take their place"

The man sat down, only for a new one to take his place soon after, "How far is there to the eastern castle" he asked calmly, he seemed more relaxes about the sudden move, though his voice was still slightly nervous,

"It will take less than a day if we are fast, however with this many people it might take 2 days" he said, he knew that it was a rough estimation, but a good one none the less.

He sat down and this time a woman stood up, she was different than the others, he clothes were tighter and shorter, and her hair was not tied up like the others. Besides that it was not the usual shade of black or blond, it was a dark shade of green.

"**What is your question my lady" Mystogan asked her gently.**

"Well I would like to ask if a servant was allowed to leave his masters side without fulfilling his contract" she said, her face had an annoyed grimace.

"Well no, but I don't see what that has anything to do with our current situation" he replied confused.

She smiled and brushed some hair aside, "Well one of you is breaking your law" she said sending a look to the three samurai.

Loki sent the woman a look, and suddenly stood up and clenched his fists, his face was locked in and angry grimace, but suddenly he dropping to one knee and lowered his head "I apologize...mistress Karen"

TBC

* * *

DUN-DUN-DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN I ACTUALLY MANAGED TO KEEP THE RELEASE DATE FOR ONCE. Oh and Karen is there to, dun-dun-dun or whatever. Anyway 16 followers and only 4 chapters that pretty good right? Ah who cares I'm just happy that I'm pleasing at least 16 people with my mediocre stories YAY, and 26 reviews awesome. I got some good ideas for Lisanna's powers, and most of them led to transformation, so that's her power, but don't worry there is a twist to it, and the next quiz can be for you guys to try and guess that. Now let's reply to those reviews, shall we:

**Fire Girl 108**: Sweet

**Mushuxlll**: Fatastic, I like that, I'll try looking at the grammatical errors soon

**darkfire1220**: I'm glad you enjoy it and that you find the plot original and yes you were right with the transformation thing, expect the next chapter next friday.

**Maiden Warrior**: Those are some good suggestions, and one of them are used, to an extent, which one is it I WILL NOT TELL MUHAHAHAHAH

**Cantthinkofaname**: Don't worry I will update soon, and correct guess, almost**  
**

**Casey10rok**:Good for you

Like before there's only a couple of words I need to explain, and here they are:

**Suidae**: A large hog like animal that lived in Japan once, but is extinct in the area in modern time

**Sutorausu**: A japanization of a name all of should know

That's it, goodbye ad if I don't see you next week, goodbye again.


	6. Chapter 6: Short, and hopefully sweet

Loki bowed before his former mistress, his head sweating and his fists clenched in anger. Karen was grinning before him as the the rest of the nobles were shocked by the sudden revelation. "Of course it would just be the thing that a Yōkai like you would do".

One man stood up immediately, beside him sat a white haired woman with an odd curl, his eyes were filled with blind rage, and his long white beard standing on edge. "Not only do you let former servant into your ranks, but also Yōkai*, how are we to trust you" he said loudly, his voice booming, and chatter beginning amongst the nobles.

Mystogan hit the floor with his spear, making a loud sound, and distracting the rest of the nobles, "SILENCE" he said, his voice booming louder than any of the nobles. He sent Loki a silencing look, and the samurai sat back, "Loki has misinformed us of his status of freedom, for that he will be punished, as for him being a Yōkai, he will not be judged for that, as he has served our squad well for many years. So for that we will not judge him, nor will we punishment, regardless of what we will do to him, you are to join us to the eastern castle, if you want to live" his voice was loud and booming, the true essense of a leader. As he finished the piped down and relaxed. "Good, tomorrow we will leave, get your things ready, we leave at dawn" and with that he turned, bringing Natsu with him. He looked at Loki, who stayed until Karen walked over to him, and he followed.

* * *

Karen brought her former servant to her quarters, he looked around the room, he had forgotten how the nobles had rooms just as 5 living quaters of the Samurai. She sat down on a large chair, beside her sat another servant, a Yōkai with long pink hair and ram horns, her face was a smooth color of light pink, and her face seemed to be sobbing. The moment he walked in she drew back, as if she was afraid of him.

"I can see that you still keep Yōkai" he said angrily. The girl drew back more, gently shacking in fear.

"Introduce yourself Aries" Karen said, placing her hand on a small whip that lay by the side of the nearby table.

Immediately after the girl, who Loki found out was named Aries, bowed gently, "H-hello there, my name is Aries, pleased to meet you".

Loki walked over and crouched beside her, "Hello there, my name is Loki" he said smiling, and she flinched as he began looking at her face, he saw how she had a large scar under her chin. "I see that still treat your Yōkai the same way" he said angrily and turned against her. Immediately after Aries stuttered back, frightened of the man.

Karen laughed, "You are mere spirits that have pledged to me, you are my property, now sit" she commanded, and Loki was forced to obey. She walked over with her short whip in hand, "You left despite my command, you understand why I can't have you going around now that I found you once more" she said placing her whip on his head. "You could warn other Yōkai, and tell them how to leave their master, and we can't have that, can we now" she said lifting the whip and striking his back, not even causing him to flinch. She whipped him again, as Aries watched in horror, sad for the Yōkai who had treated her nicely.

* * *

"WHY DID YOU LET HER TAKE LOKI" Natsu said roaring at Mystogan.

Mystogan sighed and sat down, "Relax Natsu, we won't let her keep him".

"But she said that he left under her rule, he basically belongs to her" Natsu was furious and sat down.

Mystogan sent him a mean glare that shut him up, "Loki is one of our best samurai, our lord will not let him slip away that easily, Yōkai or not, once you are a samurai in the clan, you stay a samurai, until death takes you away" his voice was serious and monotone, this was the voice that made anyone shut up.

"Alright, let's just hope that Loki will be fine, some Yōkai keepers have been known to treat their servants worse than slaves" Natsu said with legitimate worry for his close friend. "I'll go see how Lisanna is doing" he said leaving.

"You two have grown quite close it seems" Mystogan said smirking under his hood, to which Natsu merely shrugged.

* * *

Lisanna and Elfman walked into the infirmary, it was a white room, the facilities were bigger than in the eastern castle, yet no way near as advanced. He father lay on a small mat in the corner of the room, sleeping with a window wide open to his right. Once in a while he let out a small grunt in his sleep. Lisanna and Elfman sat down beside him, looking at the spot where his right arm had once been.

"He looks at peace" Lisanna said, her voice sobbing slightly, "Maybe we shouldn't have come, he might feel that his honor was hurt" she said saddened.

Elfman shook his head and placed his head on her shoulder, "His honor might be hurt, but at least our hearts will be at rest, and that may relinquish his anger for his broken honor".

She nodded gently, she looked at his father once more, he was a large man, almost as big as Elfman, he had a large white beard and short white hair, his fae was riddled with scars that he had gotten in his many years of warfare. While he could look large, brooding and cruel when he was awake, however when he slept he looked calm and sweet, like a large dog that had been fed and put to sleep. She wept gently, maybe if she had been there, she could have helped him. Suddenly a doctor pushed them away, as their father had to be checked, the bandage was removed and revealed a severely infected wound, to which Lisanna and Elfman left without flinching.

Natsu was waiting for them outside the door, "How is he doing" he asked the siblings with an honest voice.

They both sighed, "He may survive, but it can take some time, and they need to keep an eye on him at all times" Elfman said with a strong voice. Lisanna turned her head, she found the situation hard to comprehend.

Natsu slumped against the wall and Lisanna soon followed, hiding her head in her knees, as Elfman left to get ready for the leave the following morning.

There was a long silence between them. "Where are your parents" Lisanna eventually asked, remembering that she had never met them.

Natus groaned as he leaned his head back, "Never met them, I can't remember anything from since I was 7 years".

"Really" she said, suddenly interested, "So that's why you had a hard time remembering me".

Natsu nodded, he was feeling kind of bad talking about himself when she was in this situation. But as it went on they continued to talk, and they forgot their worries, if but for a short hour.

* * *

Karen finished the whipping and left to eat, Loki was panting, his back was filled with large red cuts from the sharp whip. "Treat his wounds Aries, but only barely, I will punish him further later" she said sliding the door behind her.

The ram nodded gently, bowing before the sadistic woman left. She pulled off his coat, seeing the immense wounds and was shocked.

"Why did you tell her your true name*" Loki said panting, his face gritting in pain from the scars coming into contact with the warm air.

"W-what" she stuttered quietly, flinching at his sudden reaction.

Loki gently attempted to turn his head, "You heard me, why did you tell her your name" he was interested in how Karen could have gotten another Yōkai servant.

The Yōkai gulped as she placed a soak cloth on his back, and he gritted his teeth, "S-she bought the home of my family, and promised that she would give it back to us if I served her family until the day I die" she said speaking sadly.

He turned his head once more, "So she is still blackmailing us" he sighed, "I guess I expected nothing more of the wh..." his mouth became tied together, as he could not insult his master.

"If I-I may ask" she said as she gently wiped some of his blood away, "How did she learn your name".

Loki was surprised by her sudden forwardness, "That is a long tale, and you probably don't want to hear it now, it is quite sad" he said sighing gently, knowing his tale was one of deceit, hate and death.

They sat in silence for minutes, the only noise that could be heard was was a small fly in the sky, "Well, we have plenty of time" she said interested.

Loki sent her a look, and sighed gently. "If it will set your mind at ease, then I will tell you my tale" he said and began his story.

"My family is a proud race of Shisa* that guarded a large shrine to the north of here. Life was good, plenty of prey, plenty of offerings, and plenty of attention. However there was one guest that stuck out amongst the others, a young woman who would always be rude and disrespectful to the shrine, once she even went with several of her lovers and destroyed the walls only to make love afterwards. However we could do nothing, as her family was among the many nobles that kept the shrine alive with their more than generous donations" Loki sighed and groaned as his wounds pulsated.

"And then you sold yourself to her in return for her leaving the shrine alone" Aries said, he voice suddenly becoming a slight more courageous.

Loki turned, surprised by the sudden burt of sound, "Yes, that's just about right, except she was the one that suggested the transaction. Life was of course not like in the shrine. because of Karen's rough behavior I would often have to fight thugs that she had insulted, or ex lovers that she had grown tired of, that is not to say that life was bad, in fact I was quite content with my standard, I was fed, had a nice place to sleep, and I had several women that constantly pet me. But then one day, it went to far".

He sighed and was about to continue, however he suddenly heard the noise of feet walking to the wooden floor, Karen slid the door open gently. She seemed to have just eaten, she looked at him and pulled a small bag out from her robe. She sent Aries a look and she scattered back.

"I see you're wounds have healed" she said smirking evilly, suddenly she kicked him onto the floor, she pulled a handful of white powder* from the bag, and threw it on his back. Instantly Loki felt immense pain onto his back, like someone had set fire onto it, he groaned loudly, but would not let himself submit. She gritted her teeth and threw more powder on his back. Then she turned and pulled off her robe. "I will sleep now, treat his wounds Aries, tomorrow we will leave, and you will need to walk". Loki gritted his teeth in pain, as a single tear fell from his face, he would not submit, though it hurt like hell.

TBC

* * *

Yeah, yeah I couldn't make it, sorry I'm just really busy since my classes start soon, so with no further ado I'll just get to answering those reviews:

**XxShyxX**: Really great, I really think I managed to capture his airheadness.

**Fire girl 108**: Alright I'll just go and check it, thank you for the compliments, and now DANCE TIME

**Maiden Warrior**: I can't help it my soul and mind have been contaminated and twisted by seizure enduing asian cartoons

**Casey10rock**: I am glad, GIMME A HUG =D

**NaTsu Lisanna**: Uhh yeah, I made that up, fight scene, hmm there will be in the next chapter now =D

With that said time for some explanations:

**Yōkai**: A japanese spirit that often live alongside or around humans. A Yōkai can be anything from a a broken lantern possessed by a spirit, to a huge demon with a club, aka an Oni. A Yōkai can also reside in shrines and alongside the shinto priests, in return for something. Some animals like the Tanuki are also regarded as Yōkai in ancient Japanese lore.

**Tell her your true name**: In old japanese, and chinese, beliefs, all creatures have a true name other than the one they received when they were born. If one knows a living creatures true name, that creature must subordinate itself to him or her.

**Shisha**: A guardian dog/lion hybrid of a temple or shrine in japan. They are not to be confused with the temple lions in China, as they are completely different both in belief and in how they should be made.

**White Powder**: If you did not guess this than it is salt.

Good bye, short chapter, but whatever.


	7. Chapter 7: Murder and maybe guilty

Loki woke early the next morning, his back was sore and bleeding slightly, Aries was still asleep as she had been up late packing her mistresses bags, of which there were 4, and each one was quite large. He looked around the room, Karen was still sleeping, and he cherished his moments out of pain, he knew that he deserved this, that it was his own fault that this had come to be his fate. With some trouble he managed to stand, he began to wonder if he should try going in his beast form, but dismissed the idea since the wounds would probably open from the transformation.

Suddenly he caught the scent of something in the air, something metallic, he stood slowly and looked around the room, there was nothing of metal in there, not even a knife or sword. Was it his back, no that wasn't it, yōkai blood doesn't smell like metal, or like anything for that matter. He turned to follow the scent, it came from Karen, he wondered it she had been drinking heavily again, though quickly dismissed that idea. Suddenly he saw her face, it was almost frozen, and no sound came from her, he pulled of her sheets, and in the middle of her back, sat his sword, cut into her back and impaling her heart. The door slid open and he turned, there stood a servant that had ben sent to get them, he staggered, wondering how to react, but she screamed and he jumped from the window, he ran through the crowded streets, suddenly he heard footsteps behind him, were they following him, whatever, he would outrun them. Suddenly his wounds began to burn like mad, the pain was so immense and the blood pumped through the wounds, he was unable to keep running for long because of that very reason.

"STOP THAT MAN" a guard shouted an Loki bolted to the side diving into the mass of people, they ran past him as he escaped into an alley, he to take a breather in order to find out what the hell was going on. But that was cut short as he saw how they ran into the alley, now armed with crossbows, they were ready to shoot him down, he tried to escape but was trapped, he sighed and raised his hands, he knew what was to come. They grabbed him and placed the crossbow at the back of his head as they forced him to the main castle.

* * *

"WHAT KIND OF JOKE IS THIS" Mystogan roared as he saw who the guards had brought him. Natsu watched from his seat, his mind locked in a mixture of confusion and anger.

"He murdered Mistress Lilica" one of the guards said, his face hidden by a large helmet.

"Do not be a fool" Mystogan said, "Even if he wanted to kill her a yōkai would die if they ever damaged their lord" he said as he stared down the two guards.

"But sir he was able to break his seal, he could easily have killed her without any trouble" the other guard interrupted.

Mystogan sent them annoyed look, and then turned his head to Loki, who looked down in shame, "Is this true".

Loki thought of what to say, "Yes I killed her, I am the one to blame".

Mystogan swallowed, "Take him to the dungeons, when we leave we will take him to The Lord, and there he will be judged, and he most likely will be executed" he turned immediately and signaled for Natsu to follow, Natsu sent him a look before Loki was put in a constricting holder that tied his arms and head together, Natsu turned and walked away.

"Do you really think he was telling the truth" Natsu asked with a disappointed tone.

"I don't know what to think Natsu" he said sternly, "But we must expect the worst, I don't want to have to see him executed because of a crime he may not have committed, but we have to proof that he did the opposite".

* * *

Loki was thrown into the dungeon, alongside him sat several other people, some with their arms in shackles, others with a blank expression of hate and death plastered on their faces, Loki slumped into the corner, he knew what was to come, suddenly he heard the door open, and in came Aries. Some of the other prisoners looked up, but most did not react at all, their will to care or react had been sucked out long ago. There was a long silence between them, as they simply exchanged looks and nothing more.

Eventually Aries broke the silence, "How did you kill her and survive" she said with a weak voice, it was obvious that the sudden severing of the bond had weakened her.

Loke looked away, "I did not kill her" he said, his voice was equally weak.

She didn't exactly look surprised, however her mood definitely changed. "But then who did" she said quietly.

"I don't know" he said annoyed, "But there's no chance for me to escape anyway, and no way for me to discover who the one who did it" he said, his face was in a neutral state of emotion, and his speech was like one long sigh.

There was another long silence, "Here" Aries said pulling out a small loaf of bread from her pocket, passing it to her to the other prisoners could no see it, "You haven't been given anything to eat" she whispered, "Eat it fast, I have to leave it now, they want to keep an eye on all the yōkai in the area" she said bowing and leaving. He looked at the bread, it was small, only about the size of his palm, he stood up and threw the small lump of food to an older man, the other prisoners barely reacted as the man gently ate it, thanking Loki for his kindness. Loki slumped down in an open corner, his heart pounding gently, he didn't want to die, but as things looked now there might not be much hope for him, may his ancestors help him.

* * *

The nobles were gathered by the southern gate, some were riding their own horses, others especially the women and children, were sitting in carriages. Some were dressed in unique riding clothes, others were clad in leather armor, at the back of the group rode Lisanna alongside her father and brother, and in the front rode Natsu and Mystogan, with Loki tied to a horse between them. His arms were tied behind his back and his mouth was gagged with a cloth. Behind him rode Aries on small horse, she had been put there at her own request, though Natsu and Mystogan had been against it. Normally a yōkai would have been released after their master death, howerve as she could be the only witness and work so either save or help bring down Loki, she was allowed to live. Natsu sent the tied up Loki a look and turned, one that said that he would prove his innocence no matter what.

"HOLD" an old man with a long white beard roared, riding up to Mystogan. He had a large katana by his side that he drew and pointed at Loki, "Why do you let this criminal live".

Mystogan turned, and chatter started amongst the crowd, he grew ever annoyed, "If this man has indeed killed his mistress then we will give him an honorable death, he may be a yōkai however he has served his lord well for several years" he said determined, "If he is found guilty he will commit sepuku* in the courtyard for all to see" he said as he rode around the group, "We will rest once we have ridden for three hours, and then we will rest for the night once the sun begins to set, any questions" he said angrily. There was a silence for awhile, but then there was a raised hand, the hand came from Aries, her face was held low, and she was hiding her face.

"Yes what is it" Mystogan said calming down gently.

"What if" she said, unable to finish her question.

"What if what" Mystogan said with a slight worry in his voice.

"Speak up girl" he repeated annoyed.

"What if he wasn't the one that killed mistress Karen, what if it was someone else" he whispered, "What would you do to that person".

Mystogan was surprised, "Well that would depend on the person, if it was a noble they would receive the same punishment, if it was a servant they would be executed publicly" he said with a determined voice.

"I see" she said softly.

"Is there anything else" Mystogan asked again, and there were no question, "Then we leave now" he said turning and began to ride. The group followed, while they were definitely riding much faster than any soldier could run, it was still not very fast. Lisanna suddenly rode up to Natsu, easily riding past the nobles. she was worried about how he had felt when he heard the news of Loki's betrayal.

"How are you" she asked worried as she rode at a decent rate beside him.

"Fine" he said in an odd serious tone, "How is your father" he said looking back at how the middle aged man was struggling to stay on his horse.

She sighed gently, "They say that he will be fine, but his pride seems to have taken a hard hit, and he seems to hate his current condition".

Natsu looked back at the man and frowned, "I can understand him, I don't think I would be able to live with myself if I lost my arm".

She sighed, "At least he's alive" she said smiling, though Natsu could see how bad she felt for the old man. He knew that there was nothing he could do for them, but at least she would have someone to talk to about it. Little did he know that one of the nobles was glaring at him with a mind full of hate.

"What should we do about them" Elfman asked his brother as he was looking at Natsu and his sister.

He father coughed gently, "Don't worry she won't do anything stupid, she knows what she must do".

* * *

Later that day when the group had gathered to rest for the night in a clearing in the forest. Loki was bound to a tree, his mouth had been un-gagged and he had been given a small amount of food to eat. There was always a guard, whether it was Mystogan, Natsu, or Elfman, none of them spoke to him. As the moon began to rise people began to fall asleep, and only then did Aries go near him. She gave him another loaf of bread, a jar of water, and a small slice of a boar that they had hunted down earlier that day.

"Why are you so nice to me" he asked hesitating before he bit into the food.

"You are a yōkai like me, and unlike the other men Karen brought home with her, you didn't want to use me in any way" she said sadly and nervously as she fed him.

"That bitch to Karen" he said as his face was locked in anger, though it felt good to insult her. "I'm glad she's gone, whoever killed her I thank thee with all my heart, you have rid the world of a piece of human scum" he roared proudly over the area, it could be heard by every man and every woman.

She frowned and gently walked away, "Please sleep, you need the rest" she said with a worried tone "Karen was not evil, please don't think of her like that, she was just, dumb" she said smiling a little at her own words.

He grinned slightly and closed his eyes, and drifted off to a world where no worry was, a world where he could be anything he wanted, and a world, where tomorrow might never arrive.

* * *

However his sleep was interrupted hours later, the moon was shining gently over the area, and the fires had died out a long time ago. From the middle of the camp came a small crunching noise, as a yōkai he could hear things no other person could, and this sound was even small for him. He looked around the camp, a small back and thing figure was walking around, he gritted his teeth, it must be the assassin. Nobody noticed it moving, however someone would die if he didn't react, he swallowed deeply and turned into his beast form. His teeth grew long, sharp and slender. His hands grew claws, and his eyes became black and beady, his hair grew and grew, until it became a beautiful flowing mane, his skin became pale white and covered with short fur of an equal color. He also grew much smaller, till he was no larger than a fox, he shredded the ropes binding him and ran towards the shadow, he took it by surprise and pinned it to the ground, it was covered in tight black cloth, making it practically invisible in the dark, he grabbed the mask and ripped it off, and what he saw shocked him to no limit.

"A-aries" he stammered in a deep gruff tone, "H-how why" he stammered. Suddenly she herself became a beast, however he was in to much shock to see what she looked like before she had run into the distance, "W-why" was the only word he could say before the others woke, and began to sharpen the executioners blade.

TBC

* * *

DUM DUM DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM ARIES IS THE KILLER. Did you see it coming if no then I will be proud, if yes then good for you =D. No real thoughts so I'll just use this time to answer to all my reviews, but before I do I have another thing that is important that I say, from now on I will be updating this story only ever second week, because I will also be updating my other story that came first, though it isn't as big a success as this one I still want to wrap it up. Once it's over we'll come right back to the weekly updates, sound good, if no then TOUGH:

**Fire Girl 108**: Yes, yes I did, I just pictured how I felt when my ex dumped me, that's a good tip when you want to picture and evil character-

**Maiden Warrior**: I choose to believe that, and now I picture you looking like this guy: . .html#.UhEJmBYQ4gY

**Casey10rok**: Thank you, and don't worry he will be happy once more, maybe, maybe not, I don't really know yet.

**NaTsu Lisanna**: Umm thanks for the offer, but I don't use Facebook, I just never took myself the time to make a real one, anyway I hope this does clear some things up for you, and their past will be further explained later.

4 reviews, that's kind of underwhelming but I'm still content, thank you everybody please review and follow, and maybe even favorite =D.


	8. Chapter 8: Umm sorry

Loki heard the sounds of running feet and blades being pulled from their sheathes, he looked at the trees and ran, he could still catch Aries, he had to, he needed to know what was going on. He ran amongst the trees, but they managed to keep up to him with their horses, if only he had entered his spirit form earlier, in his current condition he could barely run from a full grown man, however maybe his stealth could save him. It was a risky decision, but he ran for the trees, sprinting up the trunk, every inch he climbed felt like lifting a boulder, and he managed to her up just in time, as the horses storm by the trees. As he panted for air and hid himself in the leaves, he managed to catch a glimpse of Natsu's face, it was torn in anger and hatred, what was going on, what had woken them up, and why were they now more filled with rage than before.

* * *

5 minutes earlier

* * *

Aries unsheathed the tiny blade she had hidden in her shoe, and crept from the tent, she knew what she had to do, but with every inch that she got closer to the tent her stomach turned another knot. She looked at Loki from afar, was he moving? No it must have been her mind playing tricks on her. She crept closer to the tent, not noticing the small sounds she made whenever she moved. Inside the tent lay the Strauss family. Each sleeping soundly, and each with a concerned but/or strong look on their faces. She lifted the blade, but hesitated, was this the right thing to do, could she do it, no there had to be another way, she left the tent, and was instantly ambushed by Loki who pinned her to the ground and ripped the mask off her face.

"A-aries" he stuttered, completely shocked as she pushed him off, he was little more than a doll, instantly she entered her own beast form. He pink fur turned white and covered her entire body, as he skin grew black and furry. He head became covered in a hard black coating and it became longer and sharper, almost like a bear trap, her mouth growing tremendously going from ear to ear, of which both had disappeared into her fluffy coat. She grew a small and fluffy tail, that ended in a large fluffy ball. She ran off, faster than the average man, but still slow for a yōkai. She quickly left Loki in the dust, disappearing into the night.

* * *

Present time

* * *

Loki jumped from the tree, and sniffed the air, trying to find Aries. He found her scent and followed it, as time went he slowly regained his power, his long exposure to his human form had weakened them tremendously, however he would be completely back to normal within 24 hours, or so he hoped. He began to pick up the pace as he got closer, and managed to catch up with the large sheep like monster, however he did not attack her, he kept his distance and stalked her. The sheep creature, that he was surprised to discover that Aries had as a beast form, snuck back to the camp, but changed back when she was only a little while away from it.

"There you are" Lisanna said, she had dressed in her armor with a small sword by her side, "We were looking for you like mad, Loki escaped" she said smiling.

"Yes, I know" she said, returning to her shy voice tone, and walked back, nervously looking around, if she didn't escape soon, Loki would be at full power, and she would be killed. But as the minutes turned to hours, and the hour to the night, it was clear that Loki was smarter than that, always being out of sight, but still being able to keep her in sight. And when the dawn came, the samurai returned empty handed.

"We must proceed" Mystogan said as they ate their first meal of the day, "We will recapture Loki, however we must first get the nobles to safety, if Loki is after more of them, the only place that will be safe is within the castle walls".

"How can you be sure" a noble asked, "He was able to kills mistress Lilica, despite the fact that she was in the castle".

Mystogan sent him an annoyed look, "Our healer can place charms that ward of the spirits, you will be safe, do not worry", he raised himself from the ground, "Aries you say that Loki attacked you, do you have any idea about why he was after you".

Aries gently shook her head, "Maybe he wants revenge" she suggested.

Loki scoffed from afar, as his powers had regained he could now hear and see them from over a mile away, those puny wards that Porlyusica could construct were nothing against his power. However he had to find who was controlling Aries, and fast, or more of the nobles would die.

* * *

The group soon rode towards the castle, Loki always in their heels, but never to close to be detected, and after many hours of riding, they arrived to the huge forrest that held the massive fortress. The group found no trouble getting through, however Loki had his own problems, as he was no longer in his human form, he was under constant barrage from the wildlife that were after him, he took them down, but became tired in the process, his powers slowly draining. However he arrived to the walls after several hours.

"Soon Aries" he whispered under his breath, "Soon I will have my revenge".

* * *

"Why are you bringing him to me" Porlyusica asked angrily when the Strauss general arrived to be healed from his infected wound.

"You are the only one who will be able to heal the wound, the healers at the southern castle would rather euthanize him" Elfman said sternly.

Porlyusica sighed, "Not only do you task me with making charms to ward away Loki, but you also charge me with him" she growled gently, "Lay him on the table, Wendy find me Grandine" she said sternly and the little girl nodded, fetching her a long flute. She placed the flute to her lips and closed her eyes, and gently began to play a tune, almost instantly the general felt his arm tingle, and as the song continued, going from high to low, the wound gently healed, after 10 minutes of playing the wound was half closed and she stopped playing the hypnotic tune. "The wound would leave damage if I continue to play, you'll have to just wait for the rest to heal" she said as she began to wrap it in cloth.

"Thank you" Lisanna said bowing, "If there is anything we can ever do"

"Get out of my clinic" she said immediately.

"Ummm...okay" she said turning, slightly confused and embarrassed, with Elfman following.

When they were completely outside Elfman suddenly gained a stern look. "I saw you talking to Natsu earlier today" he said sternly, "Care to explain".

She grinned, "What can't I talk to people now".

He grew annoyed "You know what I mean, you have to remember your duty as a lady of the Struass clan".

She too grew annoyed, "It's not like I chose not to be like you or sis" she said as she turned to go the other way.

Elfman sighed as she left, "True, it is not" he said as he turned to walk to his own room.

* * *

"This is where you will stay" a maid told Aries as she led the spirit to a small room, "I apologize that it is so small, however most of the rooms have been occupied by the nobles".

"Why am I here" Aries asked, she wasn't complaining, but she thought that she would be evicted once Loki had been given a bounty and death sentence.

"You are to be protected, Loki obviously attempted to murder you in the forrest" she sighed, "I would never have guessed that he of all people would be so dishonest" she said as she turned, her face having a small frown on it.

Aries looked around the small room, it had no windows, but three small holes in the wall that would let air in, she sat down on the soft futon, she would have to escape later, but for now she would be safe here, at least, she hoped that she would. But suddenly there was a sizzling noise behind her, she turned and saw two glowing eyes in the dark, to the ground fell a white and burning piece of paper. He fell and paced back on her knees as the eyes came closer, revealing a yokai much like Loki yet very different.

"W-who are you" she said as she shivered in fear, the paper must have been one of the seals Porlyusica had made, anyone that could break through those was an insanely strong spirit.

The yokai made a large grin, "Oh I think you know" it said as it changed, his face and body morphed, and Aries fell calm as she saw it's true identity, but her fear continued, she was not safe, but would she ever.

TBC

* * *

Let me tell you that I have a good reason for now being able to release this before now. I was walking home with my dog, when he suddenly took a sudden turn, i fell, was hit by a bike and it broke 4 of the fingers on my right hand. So I hope you understand, but I will try to keep writing, but I happen to have caught a sudden case of writers block. I don't really like this chapter that much, and probably the weakest I've made yet, at least in my opinion. But enough about that, let's get to the reviews:

**darkfire1220**: Yeah I know, besides, I'm not a big name (yet), I don't expect 20 reviews in every chapter.

**Fire girl 108**: Umm, Lisanna kill, well i have a plan for it, but it's not yet.

**Maiden Warrior**: Wow...that really means a lot to me, thank you very much =D

**XxShyxX**: Chapter 6: Yep and this was the nice version. Chapter 7: You know now.

**casey10rok**: I hope you weren't to disappointed, and sorry for the late release.

**Tiggystretch**: First I should really say you have an awesome nickname, second good I like making drama.

So that's it, see you later.


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